1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to door and window frames.
2. Description of the Related Art
The invention was developed for the application to door or window frames constituted by extruded section bars made of aluminium or similar metallic alloys, constituted by a quadrangular frame formed by four section bars defining a pair of uprights and a pair of cross members. The section bars forming the frames are constituted by bars with complex section, produced by extrusion, drawing or profiling. Each of said section bars is provided on an outer side of the frame with a longitudinal groove to be used for mounting the articulation hinges and the drive assembly of the door or window frame. In the remainder of the description and in the claims, “drive assembly” means the set of devices and components that allow to transmit the opening/closing motion from the handle to the various closure elements.
Door and window frames are classified as door and window frames with wing opening, with swivel opening and with wing and swivel opening. Wing opening is defined as an opening movement that takes place by rotation around a vertical axis. Swivel opening means an opening movement that takes place by rotation around a horizontal axis. Door and window frames with wing and swivel opening can be opened selectively by means of rotation around a vertical axis or by means of rotation around a horizontal axis.
In the case of door window frames within wing opening only or with swivel opening only, the drive assembly enables to select the closed or open position of the door or window frame. In the case of door or window frames with wing and swivel opening, the drive assembly enables selectively to activate closed positions, wing opening positions or swivel opening positions, under the command of a cremone bolt device.
The standard conformation of the metal section bars for doors or windows comprises on the outer side of the frame a longitudinal groove with undercut profile formed by a base, two parallel lateral walls and two edges oriented against each other and defining an undercut engagement area at each of the lateral walls of the longitudinal groove. Mounting the components of the drive assembly in the longitudinal slots of the section bars of the frame is an operation that has a considerable impact on the time required to assemble the door or window frames. In the most traditional solutions, the members comprising the drive assembly are provided with two longitudinal tenons that engage the two undercut engagement areas of the respective longitudinal grooves. This solution is not very attractive to the manufacturers of window and door frames because it entails the need to obtain notches at the end of each groove to allow the insertion of the actuating members in the longitudinal direction.
To overcome this drawback, the document FR-A-2722527 proposed a solution in which each actuating member is provided with a single tenon that engages only one undercut area of the longitudinal groove. According to the solution described in FR-A-2722527, the actuating members are arranged contiguous in alternated fashion, so that the first actuating member has its tenon engaging a first undercut engagement area of the groove and the actuating member adjacent to it has its own tenon engaging a second undercut engagement area opposite the first one. Arranging the actuating members in alternating fashion aims to solve the problem of the stability of the engagement between the actuating members and the groove of the frame. When two or more adjacent actuating members are fastened to each other, the set constituted by the series of mutually fastened actuating members comprises at least one tenon that engages the first undercut engagement area and at least one tenon that engages the second undercut engagement area of the groove.
The drawback of this solution is that the alternated mounting of the actuating members is inconvenient and it may require repeatedly upsetting the frame.
European patent application no. 05425179 by the same Applicant (not yet published as of the filing date of the present application) describes a drive assembly for door and window frames provided with actuating members with a single tenon which are inserted in transverse direction into the respective longitudinal slots of the frame. Said document does not describe that the actuating members all engage a same undercut engagement area of the respective groove.
The document DE-A-3225049 describes a door or window frame in which the longitudinal groove comprises a single undercut engagement area and with a lateral wall of the groove with a T shape engaged at opposite sides by two opposite tenons of the actuating members.